Update

Real life is getting in the way of things a bit. Family emergency stuff. It is going to be rough for a while and posting will be slow. However, I will still be releasing a new game next weekend, and I'll finish my playthrough/review of No One Lives Forever
in the following week when things hopefully start to get back to normal around here.

In the meantime, I'm hoping that working on the game and the NOLF review will be sort of therapeutic for me.

Take care, care takers.

Slowing things down

My new schedule keeps me a little too busy for daily Ultima 7 updates. Something about coming home at night after a 12 hour day makes me not particularly feel like playing U7 and dissecting it for the blog. Still, I'm going to shoot for two updates a week until I finish the beast.

Voting Libertarian

Okay, so I missed a day. My apologies. School is rapidly approaching, my job is changing, and my nerves are generally fried. Now you feel like a real douche for making me apologize. Well too bad. I was originally going to write about the "Birther" movement and how colossally stupid it is, but after writing it down it felt a little meaner than was my original intent.

So now, Voting Libertarian: Why do it?

I should make clear that I have a lot of respect for libertarian ideas, and with the way the average elected Republican has been acting I now more than ever support libertarian candidates who want to run as Republicans. But I can't pull the trigger on an actual 'big-L' Libertarian candidate. I can't because it is stupid, and I try as much as possible to avoid stupidity.

Voting is a pain in the ass. An arguably worthwhile pain in the ass, mind you, but a pain none the less. So why waste it? You have to fit this chunk of time for voting into your busy schedule of work, school, and Internet porn; then get yourself down to some smelly elementary school gymnasium, deal with rude city poll workers, and fill the thing out.

So imagine doing all that: You get up extra early to get in before school and beat the rush, get your ballot from the disgruntled volunteer, then get into your TV-dinner-stand cubicle. You look down at the list of names and party affiliations and spot your Libertarian candidate. A warm smile creases across your face as you unzip your pants and proceed to wank all over the ballot, sophisticatedly. You then triumphantly turn your biologically filthy ballot in, secure in the knowledge that you are smarter and more noble than 99.7% (your guy loses with .1% of the vote, once again edged out by Mickey Mouse write-ins) of everyone else because you voted L.

"What a witty thing to say, good sir," I hear you tell me through your monitor screens, sultrily. But the analogy is even more brilliant than you know! Voting Libertarian is so pointless that the only possible reason to do it is for self gratification purposes only, and I know self gratification as I'm a blogger. Really, if you went and did what I described literally you would at least be more honest than a Libertarian voter.

Now debate the issues and add your unique and often great ideas to the national dialogue, then swallow your pride and pull the damn R lever.

Top 5 Games EVER!

I'm running late today, having been set back by errands and other assorted lamenesses. So instead of my usual insightful greatness I will have to settle for a cop out list. Top 5 games ever made, ever. Good to better. Buy them all, perhaps twice over.

1) Samurai Showdown 5 (arcade): As much as I have loved the strategic fighting and near-perfect balance of Street Fighter 4, and more recently the adrenaline fueled ultra stylistic slugfest that is Blazblue, neither of them compare to the raw fighting perfection that is Samurai Showdown 5. The game is perfectly styled so that it looks exactly like a cheesy (but awesome) old school Japanese samurai flick. And how does it play? Like butter, my friend. It is cerebral without slowing the pace down too much. This game is all about outsmarting your opponent, no button mashing allowed.

2) Gears of War (Xbox 360): As the Doom 2 manual might put it: Chainsaw bayonet, 'nuff said. Revolutionary game dynamics fuel the short but sweet single player romp through a fun, if unintelligible, storyline. But the real treat is the multiplayer. It is a true testament to how groundbreaking and great the multiplayer dynamics were in this game when people (myself included) played the hell out of it DESPITE the almost ridiculously bad netcode.

3) The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games (PC): A super innovative RTS from an unknown French developer that went right underneath just about everybody's radar. But not mine. Gameplay wise it is comparable to more recent titles like World in Conflict, only this game did it about 4 years earlier. The singleplayer is a decent Myth style romp, but the multiplayer is where this game shines. There are more good game design choices here than you can count. Unfortunately, the multiplayer servers are no longer in operation, but do yourself a favor and LAN this sucker. You won't regret it.

4) Counter-Strike (PC, the xbox one (which I had) kind of blew): This one just has to get on the list. In my opinion, CS is the game most responsible for changing multiplayer gaming from a novelty niche to something that everybody can be interested in. This game was a perfect storm for me. I had been gaming online for a couple of years already; but playing Quake, TFC, AvP, and Rainbow Six on a 56k was definitely more about the novelty of playing with people around the world and less about having a lot of gaming fun. It came around just as my parents had upgraded to a cable modem. The rest, as they say, is history. I have easily logged more hours into CS than any other multiplayer game, probably by a factor of three or more. And it was a free mod!

5) Vampire : The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC): I realize that those of you who don't already know the amazing quality of this game are thinking "a game that barely scratches out an 80 on Metacritic is the best game ever made?" The short answer is yes, yes it is. There has never been a roleplaying game with a more immersive, better crafted world and world-lore ever made. Really, the game just does what so many other games have prided themselves in doing, but it does it better. Complex moral decisions (Fable)? It gets done here better. Believable game world filled with realistic characters with multiple agendas (Oblivion)? It gets done here better. A horror sequence that can scare the piss out of you (a dozen lame survival horror games)? Check+, the creepiest game sequence I've ever encountered. The game is perfect... Except for some of the near game breaking bugs. This is how you can account for the less than perfect reviews. Essentially, at launch the game was near unplayable due to bugs. Lucky for you, launch was several years ago. The game continues to get fan patches to this day and I can tell you from personal experience that it is now immensely playable and enjoyable. Pick this thing up on Steam for around $20. You won't regret it.

There you have it. My first Top 5. But why are you still reading? Go pick up Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. NOW!